With Princess Kate Back In Action, Prince William Ramped Up His Own Project

Following Kate Middleton’s return to work behind the scenes on Tuesday, Prince William is ramping up his schedule, beginning with a trip to Scotland where he celebrated a charity success. In June 2023, William launched Homewards, a new homelessness prevention charity supported by he and Kate’s Royal Foundation, and on Thursday, he met with members of the Aberdeen Homewards Coalition, which is bringing his vision to life in the small Scottish city.

In a speech, he announced that Homewards was working with the UK organization Blue Light Card to bring discounts and support to the approximately 60,000 people in the UK homelessness workforce, which includes housing officers, night shelter managers, outreach workers. He also thanked the gathered participants for devoting their lives to working on the issue, with special appreciation for those who have experienced homelessness themselves.

“When I launched Homewards last year, I made clear our determination to work in collaboration to demonstrate that it is possible to end homelessness, making it rare, brief and unrepeated,” he said. “We knew from the outset, Homewards would only be successful if we built on all your incredible work, knowledge and insight.”

In a statement, Homewards cited news findings from St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity that 52% of frontline homelessness workers have difficulty affording to pay their bills or housing costs. “By welcoming the sector to Blue Light Card’s community, it is acknowledging the essential service they provide by working tirelessly every day, going above and beyond, in a challenging environment, to prevent homelessness and ensure that people have a safe place to call home,” the statement continued.

In conversation with a small group in Aberdeen, he talked about the conversations that inspired him to start Homewards, a network of advocacy groups across the UK connecting people who want to address the root causes of homelessness in the country.

“I speak to so many architects who want to get involved, but they say how do I do that—I don’t know how. There is a wealth of people who want to get involved but they don’t know how to help,” he said. “The network is going to be huge for this… It will give you the tools, the kit, so people can do it forever. It’s really important that Homewards is going to be there for all of you, to create a legacy that lasts.”

Earlier this month, William returned to work following an extended summer break, just days before Kate announced on September 9 that she had completed cancer treatment and would continue on with light duties for the rest of the year. Her first engagement was a private meeting with employees of her Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood at her Windsor Castle office.

Last week, King Charles III also announced that he was ramping up his work schedule, and his first international tour since his own February cancer diagnosis would take place in Australia this October. On Friday, the monarch was also in Scotland, attending an event at Dumfries House, the headquarters of the King’s Foundation. Along with Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, he hosted a meeting of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit.